Everyday Stories #16

No potho reposare

And love cannot rest

This is not a story, it is not a presumption of a poem. This is a gift I give to myself.

It’s been two days that, as soon as I can, I go back to video below.

A Diosa, better known as No potho reposare is a song written in 1920 and has become part of the Sardinian culture and popular tradition.

Below I report the original lyrics, in Sardinian language, the lyrics in Italian, and a translation, as always improvised, into English. But the words here perhaps take a back seat.

It could be the hidden old age, it could be some special form of nostalgia, it could be this strange time of passage, I only know that every time I am moved.

The song, in the video, is interpreted by Andrea Parodi, in his last concert. His voice and his image they are probably more captivating in other recordings, maybe with Noa or with Al Di Meola, but here, in the transfiguration of the disease, a few days before his death, there is an intensity that escapes reason.

Wanting to be an anghelu, an angel, and to be able to compose unu mundu bellissimu, a beautiful world, for those you love, the lover can sing it, the parent to the child, god to the creation, the soul of every human being to the soul of human beings.

And the song is a love song, a trust song, a choral song.

And that love, that voice without peace and that gives peace, that intrusive mystery mixes with everything, that nonsense that keeps us alive, that love cannot rest.

Non potho reposare amore ‘e coro Pensende a tie so donzi momentu No istes in tristura, prenda ‘e oro Ne in dispiachere o pensamentu

T’assicuro ch’ a tie solu bramo Ca t’amo forte t’amo, t’amo, t’amo

Si m’essere possibile d’anghelu S’ispiritu invisibile piccabo Sas formas e furabo dae chelu Su sole e sos isteddos e formabo

Unu mundu bellissimu pro tene Pro poder dispensare cada bene Unu mundu bellissimu pro tene Pro poder dispensare cada bene

No potho viver no chena amargura Luntanu dae tene amadu coro A nudda balet sa bella natura Si no est accurtzu su meu tesoro

T’assicuro ch’a tie solu bramo Ca t’amo forte t’amo, t’amo, t’amo T’assicuro ch’a tie solu bramo Ca t’amo forte t’amo, t’amo, t’amo

Non potho reposare amore ‘e coro Non potho reposare Non potho reposare amore ‘e coro Non potho reposare

Non posso riposare, amore del mio cuore Sto pensando a te ogni momento Non essere nella tristezza, gioia d’oro Né nel dispiacere o nella preoccupazione

Ti assicuro che desidero solo te Perché ti amo forte, ti amo, ti amo e ti amo

Se mi fosse possibile, dell’angelo Prenderei lo spirito invisibile Le sue forme, e ruberei dal cielo il sole e le stelle e forgerei

Un mondo bellissimo per te Per poterti regalare ogni bene Un mondo bellissimo per te Per poterti regalare ogni bene

Non posso vivere, no, senza amarezza Lontano da te cuore mio amato La bella natura non vale nulla Se non mi sta accanto il mio tesoro

Ti assicuro che desidero solo te Perché ti amo forte, ti amo, ti amo e ti amo Ti assicuro che desidero solo te Perché ti amo forte, ti amo, ti amo e ti amo

Non posso riposare amore del mio cuore Non posso riposare Non posso riposare amore del mio cuore Non posso riposare

I can’t rest, love of my heart I’m thinking of you at every moment Don’t be in sadness, gold jewel Neither in pain nor in worry

I assure you that I desire only you Because I love you strongly, I love you, I love you If it were possible for me, of an angel I would take the invisibile spirit His forms, and I would stole from the sky The sun and the stars and I would compose

A beautiful world for you To reserve you every good thing A beautiful world for you To reserve you every good thing

I can’t live without bitterness Away from you, beloved heart The beautiful nature is useless If my honey isn’t next to me I assure you that I desire only you Because I love you strongly, I love you, I love you

I can’t rest, love of my heart I can’t rest I can’t rest, love of my heart I can’t rest